Fire at Guatemala shelter kills 21 teens

A fire has swept through the female section of a crowded children's shelter near Guatemala City, killing at least 21 girls and injuring dozens more.

Police have blamed the fire on arson following an overnight riot and escape attempt.

Photos from inside the shelter showed blue sheets covering sneaker-clad bodies and bits of foam mattresses in what appeared to be a smoke-stained dormitory room.

Weeping, distraught relatives waited outside the walled facility for news of their children. Shelter staff gave them pieces of paper to write down their children's names so they could try to locate them.

The head of Guatemala's social welfare agency, Carlos Rodas, said youths at the shelter started rioting on Tuesday in an effort to escape. Complaints about abuse and living conditions at the overcrowded shelter have been frequent.

Then on Wednesday, about 9 am, "Some of the adolescents lit their mattresses on fire," Rodas said. "We don't shirk responsibility, we accept it, but we can't get those lives back."

Julia Barrera, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, said late in the day that at least 20 children and teenagers died. Two hospitals said they received 41 injured girls between the ages of 13 and 17, many with second- and third-degree burns. Dr Carlos Soto, director of Roosevelt Hospital, said some of the injured had life-threatening burns.